The best of the best: personal safety apps

Sex Offenders Search helps you to locate registered sex offenders and predators near you. You can search your neighborhood, the area around your child’s school or parks and playgrounds. If you are moving to a new area, you can see the number of registered offenders before moving. This app allows you to search by the offender’s name, address, zip code or search near the contacts you have in your phone. This app features an interactive map that allows you to navigate through the selected area on the map where you can see a photo, name, address, and offenses of any individual you select.

With Circle of 6, you have the ability to select six of your most trusted friends to add to your circle. If you are in an uncomfortable situation, you can automatically send a pre-programmed message to your circle with your exact location. All it takes is two taps. This app is ideal if you are out for the night or on campus. It is a great tool to prevent violence before it has the chance to begin.

Rescue is endorsed by paramedics, fire fighters, the police and search and rescue groups. It is a personal locator and protection system. This app also automatically detects if you are in a new country and provides the appropriate local emergency number. You can also send an SMS or email with an emergency message and GPS location to your contacts. There is also a loud alarm that is triggered to warn bystanders or predators that the app has been activated. There is also a 60 second countdown to automatically call emergency services just in case you are not able to.

With Life360, you can locate your family members, know where there are safety points nearby, where there are threats and use the free family group messaging. This works with a regular phone as well so members who do not have a smart phone are able to be located.

This app acts as an emergency help button. With 5Star Urgent Response, you get immediate access to certified agents who are trained in CPR as well as other emergency procedures. Your location is identified by GPS and you can also reach close friends or family. If need be, you can be connected to 911 as well.

iWitness provides a virtual witness to any situation that feels threatening. It captures video and audio and sends it to a secure server that is available to law enforcement. Once this is activated, 911 is also called and a text or email is sent to six different contacts to alert them of the incident. An alarm will also go off to alert those nearby.

This app is also ideal for the college setting. If you are in an uncomfortable situation, this app allows you to contact your friends, campus police, local emergency services or all three whenever you need them. This app includes your GPS location with your messages so that your location is known. You can even post messages to Facebook and Twitter.

With one push of a button, My Guardian Angel sends an emergency alert to contacts, captures video evidence as well as audio, and provides GPS assistance and location. This information is sent to a secure site that saves the information. Therefore if your phone is destroyed, the information is not.

This app contains manual and automatic triggers for emergency situations. Notifications are sent by text, email or posts on Facebook. They contain a link to a map with your exact location about your whereabouts when the service was activated. Before you go out, set a timer for about how long you will be out or how long your activity will take. If you hit the SOS button or fail to hit the OK button, an emergency message will be sent out to your contacts. This application is enabled all around the world with complimentary international SMS support.

Ripcord Personal Security is very easy to use. All you have to do is pull the earplugs out from your iPod or iPhone for the alarm to trigger. There is no need to worry about buttons or finding the app, once the earbuds are pulled either by accident or on purpose, the alarm will sound. While the alarm is sounding, a message is sent to selected contacts to let them know where you are at by using GPS tracking.